The Last Station (2009)

Not exactly the most exciting movie from last years Oscar ballot. Thought it had something to do about an old man sitting around at a train station. Can't say my assumptions were too far off. I haven't been very excited about writing this review, because the movie was kinda boring.

The film is actually a biography about Leo Tolstoy played by Christopher Plummer. Tolstoy, of course, is the famous Russian writer responsible for War & Peace and Anna Karenina.
Helen Mirren plays Sofya Tolstoy his faithful wife who helped him type out his works. In the film she is in a conflict with Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) over who is entitled to his fortune in his will.

There is a side story romance between James McAvoy and Kerry Condon. Quite unnecessary to the plot and added to make this a feature length film. Overall this movie was so dull that this side story did very little to make it worth watching.

I will give it one thing. Unlike films like Bright Star, it opened by giving you a background into what you are about to watch. I hate when movies assume you have already ready a movie review, or watched the trailer, or just know what the subject matter is before the film starts. You aren't missing anything here though.

Vote: 5/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0824758/